Lot 122
Asian Art. East Asia, Japan, late Edo to early Meiji period, ca. 1850 to 1912 CE. A magnificent kabuto ornament depicting a butterfly or moth comprised of a wooden thorax and abdomen covered with bronze sheet and bronze wings, head, legs, and threadlike antenna - the wings with gilded and silvered details. The butterfly held great significance to the samurai warriors. One of the first clans to use the butterfly as their familial crest was the Taira clan, who were among the most powerful samurai clans of the Heian era in Japan (794-1185) and wore the butterfly crest on their armor. A stunning piece exemplifying the finest workmanship with meaningful iconography, once used to embellish a samurai kabuto helmet, an important element of Japanese samurai armor. Size: 4.875" W x 4" H (12.4 cm x 10.2 cm); 5.375" H (13.7 cm) on included custom stand.
A painted silk Edo hanging scroll depicts a portrait of Ikeda Tsuneoki (Nobuteru, 1536-1584) wearing armor embellished with butterfly-shaped ornaments. See "Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868" by Kazutoshi Harada, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, fig. 208, p. 301.
Provenance: private E.S. collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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#126683
- Condition: One antenna restored. Some losses to gilding as shown, but much has survived the tests of time.
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